What Should we call the Area of Dallas that’s just east of White Rock? Seriously What’s it called?

The question comes in a roundabout way from a reader asking “I was wondering, what do you know about the area just east of White Rock Lake?” Her overall email regarded schools and neighborhood characteristics, but it got me thinking that we, as Dallasites, have no idea what to call this area of Dallas.

To clarify, I’m not talking about the neighborhoods in this area. Forest Hills, Casa Linda Estates, The Peninsula, Claremont,Little Forest Hills are all established and recognized neighborhoods in this area. What I’m referring to is the overall community that exists in that area and which is made up of those neighborhoods. Think about other community names like Old East Dallas, Uptown, Pleasant Grove, Lakewood, Lake Highlands, etc. Those are all communities that are made up of different, but similar neighborhoods. It’s this designation for the area that I’m after.

The community (or larger geographic area) I’m talking about is indicated on the map below.

And before you start to chime in that I’ve extended Lakewood north of Mockingbird, have Lake Highlands too far east, or have Old East Dallas too far north; keep in mind that these notions of communities I’m speaking of are fluid, ever changing concepts in the minds of Dallasites and North Texans; and they’re open to interpretation. Further, what’s considered Lakewood today may not be considered Lakewood tomorrow. The notion of Lakewood may grow, shrink, or morph into another area throughout the years. Case in point: North Dallas High School. When it was built almost a century ago, it was built in a community that people called “North Dallas.” Today, even though North Dallas High School still sits in the same spot, that spot is located smack dab in the middle of the community we call Uptown, and what we now consider “North Dallas” is nowhere close to it.

Really what the map is meant to do is to draw your attention to the fact this area can’t be easily be grouped together with other communities around it. Like it or not, Forest Hills or the Peninsula neighborhoods are not in Lakewood. And though you might be thinking, isn’t Casa Linda in Far East Dallas, you’re probably thinking Casa View.

Casa Linda

Casa View

(They’re Not the Same)

No this area can’t be grouped together under some surrounding communities banner, it’s a distinct different community and it deserves a name of its own.

So how do we go about creating a new name? Well, it used to be that some eloquent newspaper man, or some well-spoken local broadcaster would coin a nickname for the area much like they would for local sports heroes. Which when you think about it, is really what a communities name is; just a nickname. Unfortunately, our local media hasn’t come up with anything. It’s kind of hard to truly blame them. The Dallas Morning News’ non-sports workforce is basically just Robert Wiloksny and a bunch of interns: Local TV stations, according to Local TV News Demi-god Tracy Rowlett, just report on the weather nowadays. And local radio, or what’s left of it, can hardly even can’t afford to be, well, local anymore.

So lacking a credible Molly Ivins or Blackie Sherrod or even Joe Bob Briggs type to create a nickname what are we left to do? We could try to let a business or realtor association hold a naming contest, though it looks like that was tried recently, and we ended up with a name that sounds like we were a pre-war industrial section of town that specialized in building pre-fab lake houses and garden gnomes.

I feel that the best remaining way to create a name is through an organic and almost random process. Someone throws out a name one day and it sticks. Other people pick up on the name and run with it. It’s worked for years, think about Deep Ellum. Deep Ellum didn’t get its name from a focus group or online poll. It got it because someone a hundred years ago combined a geographic colloquialism “Deep” and a mispronunciation of the street Elm, or “EL-M”. They started calling it that, people latched on and it stuck. It was crowd sourcing before crowd sourcing was a thing.

So let’s start throwing something out there. My suggestion is not so much a specific name per se, but a way to get started on the name. Many of the best names for communities come from agglomeration of streets, features or something special in the area. Think, SoHo, or Tribecia in New York. Or Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville/M-Streets even Lake Highlands in Dallas.

So let’s throw together, East Dallas, White Rock Lake, the Big Thicket, maybe Garland Road, or Buckner Blvd, etc and see what we get…

IT’S CALLED OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS AND ITS BEEN CALLED THAT FOR ALMOST 80 YEARS. DON”T COME INTO TOWN RENAMING STUFF FOR NO REASON. DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE POSTING DUMB STUFF LIKE THIS. IF YOU DRIVE THROUGH THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS YOU WILL SEE OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS SIGNS POSTED EVERYWHERE. NOT EASTLAKE LOL.

I thought about Reinhardt, I know at the historic site of the town, where the Railroad crossed Peavy, there are some older industrial buildings with Reinhardt stamped in concrete above the doors. If that area turned into more of an arts, cultural or entertainment district, a la Bishop Arts or the Cedars, I could see the area carrying the Reinhardt name. Though at this point, I think it would be akin to calling North Oak Cliff Hord’s Ridge.

Aren’t we divided up in smaller segments that have been already name. Eastwood, Lockwood, Casa Linda, Casa View, Lake Gardens, and etc. If there is an area left over that is unnamed, let them name themselves.

or just Casa Linda- the shopping center kind of is at the nexus of this neighborhood; that’s what my mom has been calling this area for about 35 years anyway!
Lakewood on the opposite side of the street is anchored by its shopping center too…

I think your map is off, you have part of Forest Hills, Little Forest Hills, Casa Linda in this unmarked area. You also don’t have Casa View marked on the map. And Classen is part of the Old Lake Highlands neighborhood. Don’t come around remapping, renaming just cause you can.

If you re-read the post, I’m not talking about the neighborhoods like Forest Hills or Casa Linda, I’m talking about the larger area. Like how Junius Heights is a neighborhood in the larger “Old East Dallas” area, of the L-streets is a neighborhood in the greater “Lake Highlands” area.

How about Lago Blanco or La Roca Blanca? Adds a little style to the name. Or perhaps Arbol Grande? I kind of like Lago Blanco myself. Sounds cool.
For a name a little more straightforward we could go with Rockdale, which could be considered combining the name for White Rock Lake and Dallas (RockDal).

NO ITS BEEN KNOWN AS OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS FOR SO LONG NOW. IF YOU DRIVE THROUGH THAT AREA YOU SEE SIGNS ON TOP OF THE STREET SIGNS THAT SAY OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS. AND LAKE HIGHLANDS RD RUNS RIGHT THROUGH IT.

Yes, that is the Old Lake Highlands neighborhood. If you cross Lake Highlands on Peavy you’ll see sign toppers for Eastwood and Lake Park Estates neighborhoods. Go a little further and it’s Casa Linda. Go down Buckner and yuo’ll see Penisula sign toppers. Go down Garland and there are Little FOrest Hills and FOrest Hills signtoppers. So what are ALL these neighborhoods (and more) together called?

AND IF YOU SEE ON THE MAP ABOVE FOR REFERENCE, THE AREA IN QUESTION HAS A STREET CALLED HIGHLAND TO THE SOUTH AND LAKE HIGHLANDS DRIVE GOING RIGHT THROUGH IT. THE SOCCER FIELDS ARE CALLED LAKE HIGHLANDS SOCCER FIELDS LOL. THAT’S ALWAYS BEEN AND WILL ALWAYS BE OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS. NOT EASTLAKE, NOT ROCKDALE, NOT WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO CALL IT TODAY LOL.

Joyce Crosby
I grew up in big forrest hills..we lived on San Benito for 30yrs..how bout White Rock Spillwayers !

Stephanie Timko
White Rock!!

Daryn DeZengotita
Here at The Mix Coworking, we like to call our neighborhood “Weird Forest Hills.”

Angel-Light
Love White Rock–or East Lake as you suggested, Amy. In fact, I like East Lake the best.

Suza Kanon
well part of that is richardson isd via lake highlands. such an intersting history in that area. during the county wars back in the day, that land changed hands many times, was hot commodity.

Rawlins Gilliland
It’s northeast Dallas & always had been. So Old Lake Highlands is a neighborhood east of White Rock Lake in northeast Dallas. Anything east of Central but north-east of the lake. Simple

Mary Guthrie
Forest Hills?

Susan Lee Pollard
The Big Rock Thicket Garland

Richard Moore
East Lake

David Price
I always thought of that area as “White Rock”.

Shannon Thompson Critchlow ·
Casa Linda

Ric Speed
Lake Highlands!!!!!

Catherine Garrison
Anything except Lake & Garden District

Larry Brautigam
Eastlake

Ann Sansone
At one time there was a sign in little forest hills that said “Keep East Dallas Quirky”? That’s our style.

Like others, East Lake seems to be a solid choice. Easy to remember, can be marketed by real estate agents to incoming home buyers, and can have simple branding to attract other DFW residents to try out restaurants, etc.

I live on the east side of the lake. The free spirited sibling side.
Our neighborhoods do have distictive and recognized names though. Does anyone know the company who developed Old Lake Highlands?
I am looking for an original floor plan for my house.
My searching is not stirring anything up. Any suggestions?

I think East Rock sounds the coolest. East Lake sounds too much like Southlake.

And for what it’s worth I think the most descriptive would be northeast Dallas. I believe I’ve seen that used before.

And kudos for your map and post. You clearly know your East Dallas history.

I’ve spent 15 years in “East Rock” and it’s definitely overlooked. It’s not easy to tell people where I’m from. I’ll say casa Linda, and that normally does the trick, even though I don’t live in casa Linda.

The neighborhood is not Lakewood and not exactly East Dallas, although East Dallas does somewhat describe it. East Rock does have a great vibe and is much less pretentious than Lakewood proper. Much less straightlaced than Lake Highlands. Wealthier than casa view.

NO ITS CALLED OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS. THATS THE NAME OF IT. PERIOD END OF STORY. PLEASE DO NOT JUST COME IN AND START RENAMING STUFF. THANKS!!!!! OLD LAKE HIGHLANDS SOUNDS JUST FINE AS IT HAS SOUNDED JUST FINE FOR THE PAST 80 YEARS!!!!!!!!